Riad nasr biography channel

A pair of chefs who honed their kitchen skills under Keith McNally of Balthazar fame are fast becoming some of the most sought-after restaurateurs in town.

After decades of working for McNally, whose Balthazar and Pastis restaurants have come to define French brasserie for New Yorkers, Riad Nasr and Lee Hanson only recently stepped out on their own — to instant success.

They opened Frenchette in Tribeca in 2018 to critical praise, including the 2019 James Beard award.

It’s still impossible to get a reservation, though they hold some tables for walk-ins each night.

They’re also working on two other ambitious projects: ownership of Le Veau d’Or, a legendary Upper East Side bistro that opened in 1937, and a new restaurant on a prime corner of Rockefeller Plaza in place of Brasserie Ruhlmann.

The chefs stress that their current success has been decades in the making — so much so that the duo first reached out to Le